It is with great regret that the Colorado Municipal League reports to our members that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed SB 13-025 today, June 5, 2013. Dubbed the “Colorado Firefighter Safety Act,” the legislation concerns state-prescribed collective bargaining, state-mandated meet and confer, and the usurpation of home rule and local control over the manner in which to apply these local personnel policies to local employees. We are exceptionally disappointed in the legislature and Gov. Hickenlooper for allowing an end-run around matters of strictly local concern. For more than 40 years, Coloradans have utilized the existing local initiative process and the appropriate deliberations of local elected officials to determine whether or not and to what extent to have collective bargaining for their uniformed and non-uniformed employees alike. Nothing was broken. Some have attempted to wave off CML’s objections by stating that SB 25 “doesn’t really do anything.” We could not disagree more. In fact – for the first time ever – the State of Colorado seeks to dictate to local citizens and their duly elected representatives how collective bargaining must happen and the manner in which they choose it. It is unprecedented, and it is unfortunate. CML respects and honors the work of the men and women who serve our communities as firefighters. That isn’t the issue. The legislation is flawed and unnecessary, and we now seriously worry about what other unfunded public employment mandates imposed upon local governments and taxpayers. The Colorado Municipal League is – and will always be – a steadfast advocate for keeping local control local and home rule at home. Should the political pendulum ever swing the other direction, this means CML will stand up against any attempts by the state to prohibit local collective bargaining. Regrettably, we believe that in the short term, we will be laboring to defend against expansion of this new law to other public sector employees, further infringing on local control and home rule. The General Assembly and the governor have opened a door that may be impossible to close, for both the state and local governments. CML, its members, and our partners will be collaborating in the weeks ahead to determine an appropriate response to the enactment of SB 25. Since the legislative and executive branch have seen fit to enact the legislation in spite of clear and convincing constitutional conflicts, local governments may have no choice but to seek recourse in the judicial branch. Those decisions will be made carefully and by those that are directly impacted by the new law. For those attending the CML conference in Vail later this month, a session exploring the emerging issues on this legislation and what to expect in the 2014 legislative session regarding collective bargaining will be held at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 20. For more information, contact CML Deputy Director Kevin Bommer.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 19:58:02 +0000
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